KUALA LUMPUR – The National Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) meeting today gave its approval for the plantation and commodities sector to be the fourth sector involved in the industrial vaccination programme.
National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the three other economic sectors approved earlier were construction, transportation and manufacturing.
He said the workers in the four sectors, which form a large portion of sectors operating during the movement control order under Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan, would be vaccinated soon.
“We are also looking into proposals from other sectors, such as retail and tourism, to be included based on priority to operate according to the phases of the National Recovery Plan,” he told a press conference after checking the process at the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (CIVac) here today.
Meanwhile, Khairy also announced that the CITF has so far approved 27 industrial vaccination centres for the construction, transportation and manufacturing sectors under the supervision of the Works Ministry, Transport Ministry and International Trade and Industry (Miti) Ministry.
Khairy said the programme will involve 373,327 workers in the three sectors, with half the industrial vaccination centres (PPVs) beginning operations today and the other half to begin next week.
“This is the number that we have planned so far based on the need to curb Covid-19 infections and we will most likely increase the number of industrial PPVs based on risk assessment and epidemiological reports we receive.
“If there is a higher risk in a certain economic sector, we are able to provide the vaccine to the sector, but so far, this is the plan that I want to announce,” he said.
Khairy said five of the industrial PPVs are in Selangor, four in Penang, three each here and in Terengganu, two each in Johor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang, and one each in Sabah, Putrajaya, Perak and Kedah.
“We hope that with the industrial vaccination programme, that is part and parcel of PICK, we will be able to protect workers of the economic sectors operating in the current phase of the National Recovery Plan,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khairy said priority for the single-dose CanSino vaccine is for states with residents in hard-to-reach areas, mostly in Sarawak, Sabah and the east coast of the peninsula.
He said the government also plans to use the vaccine on certain groups, such as refugees.
“We hope that by tomorrow, I should be able to get some indication of when we will get the CanSino vaccine; we have requested for delivery in July,” he said.
Khairy also said that he and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba will issue a joint statement on the use of the Pfizer vaccine for teenagers tomorrow. – Bernama, July 1, 2021
